The wrong mood for practice

[LordK]

What is the best way to deal with being in the wrong mood/too tired etc for practising - when you end up making loads more mistakes than usual, and you're not really concentrating on the music and the temptation is just to give up practice for today?

Things I try are just playing more slowly/carefully than usual, breaking things up into smaller sections and spending less time on pieces than usual, so the practice session is shortened rather than skipped. What are the more experienced pianists' views on dealing with this problem which no doubt happens to everybody occasionally?

K

[A.C.]

There are so many ways, here are some that I usually do:

1, Take a break at least every hour. Just the time to walk around somewhere refreshing or a little bit longer for buying a cup of coffee.

2, Play a piece that you love very much before leaving your seat, so that you'll want to go back to your seat after the break!

3, Try to practise the piece of music in different ways. Explore new ways to practise. Be inventive. Practising piano should not be boring; it should be an interesting process!

4, Be determined. Never give up. Be patient.

In the end, the world is not all about music. Never be one-tracked mind which will eventually drives people crazy.

[nerd]

I'm not very experienced, but...

Improvise! That's a valuable skill and you can do it as a technical study (eg. improvise using lots of octaves) or a musical study (eg. try to make the piece as consistent as possible) or, well, just play and experiment I'm sure it's no waste of time. You might even get some ideas for the piece you're studying

[donjuan]

When Im in the wrong mood for practicing, I dont feel like improvising..I feel like smashing my fists upon the keys, so maybe it's better to walk away and sleep on it before coming back..
donjuan

[Motrax]

If I know I'm in for a long day of practice, I actually put on a timer and force myself to take a break every 40-60 minutes. Not only does this refresh your mindset for piano practice, but it also lets what you've just work on sink in better.

Also, if I work on a specific passage for 20 or 30 minutes to get it absolutely note perfect, I try to stay away from it until at least a few hours later. This will give your head time to sort things out and commit them to long-term memory, or something like that. Bernard probably knows about this better, but in any case, it works for me.

[Clare]

When I can't be bothered practicing, I do similar things to many of you. I just take a piece and practice only one aspect of it, for instance concentrating on playing half a  page of a Bach fugue separate hands very slowly and think hard about evenness.

I find that if I don't want to practice, it's because I can't be bothered thinking too hard in the way I need to when I play, so I try and make it so I only have to focus on one thing. Soon, I often find myself wanting to play more. Sometimes just dragging myself to the piano is the hardest part of the practice session.

[Spatula]

I keep daydreaming sometimes, especially doing some Rach preludes, and Chopin impromptus.

Usually I take some gingko abstract to help with memory and get some good sleep the night before!

I take a good 10 - 20 min break every hour, and maybe eat something, stretch (DO THE SEYMOUR FINK stretches those are good!)

[johnreef]

When you are not in the mood to practice......


turn on the TV and watch daytime television...hopefully something like Morey Povich or the E chanel. You'll feel your iq dropping so rapidly you'll have to go back to the piano to regain your sanity and feel like you're not wasting your day.